I’ve had a busy month that included travel to Manchester, VT and Westerly, RI.
Two cities + two olive oil cakes = today’s baking inspiration.
I host the Book Cougars podcast with my friend Chris and we traveled to Manchester for a book event at the Northshire Bookstore. In between author sessions and catching up with friends old and new, we ate several delicious meals; the food scene in Manchester is top notch! Our last meal before leaving town was at a recently opened Lola Mediterranean Woodfire and everything about it was on point from dishware and table linen to the service and food. The highlight was definitely the olive oil cake which was moist with just the right amount of toothsome grit from the cornmeal, it sat on an orange-infused syrup. Chris got baklava and we ordered two scoops of ice cream, maple walnut and sea salt caramel, which they source locally from Wilcox Ice Cream.
My boytoy, Jim, recently retired and I recently finished a big work project, so we took a day trip to our favorite beach spot in Rhode Island - Napatree Point - to celebrate. On the way home we happened upon Cinder in Westerly. What a fantastic meal. The chef has created a strong list of tacos that are served on house made Naan bread, which is thin, soft, and the perfect delivery vessel for the complement of fillings on offer. Jim got the beer battered haddock tacos and I strayed to the main course offerings and chose the coconut curry & mushroom grits which included perfectly cooked kabocha squash. So, so good. Everything we ate was super fresh and made with quality ingredients. To top off the meal we ordered the olive oil cake which was served on an incredible pool of rhubarb sauce. It was the perfect temperature to dine outside, and the perfect meal to make a toast to Jim’s retirement.
Roaring Fork Mill has officially launched seven Regenerative Organic Certified flours, head to the website to learn more about them. Today I’m cooking with three RFM flours and cornmeal from The Brooklyn Granary & Mill Bakery in Gowanus, Brooklyn.
Scenes from our stop at the Brooklyn Granary back in December.
My nephew Zach (top right corner) is flipping through a copy of Roxana’s cookbook!
I own a lot of cookbooks but the two I find myself spending the most time with lately are both from Roxana Jullapat: Mother Grains and Morning Baker. She is devoted to using whole grains in her baked goods and explains the different grains, why she chooses one for a particular recipe, and most importantly, her recipes work!
Today I made the Olive Oil polenta cake from Mother Grains and the Glazed Lemon, Poppy Seed, and Olive Oil Muffins from Morning Baker. A couple of takeaways. I reduced the sugar in the polenta cake by 50g which I thought was perfect, Jim thought it wasn’t sweet enough. The flavor of the olive oil in the glaze for the muffins was prominent. In the future I would be more thoughtful about the flavor profile for the glaze, perhaps using the freshest olive oil available (easier in California than Connecticut). In the cake and muffin, the flavor of the oil couldn’t be discerned by my palate.
Lastly, my apron from Hedley & Bennet. I call it eggplant, they call it pomegranate.
